Hacker Releases Personal Details of 'Sun's Web Users

There's more News International hacking news out of the U.K. today—but this time, it’s not the News Corp.-owned company that’s doing the hacking.

According to the Guardian, News International emailed thousands of people last night to warn them that a hacker had stolen the personal details of individuals who entered polls and competitions on the Sun’s website, and the hacker is now publicly posting that information on the site Pastebin.

Chris Duncan, the director of customer data for News International, told the website’s users that “some customer information from competitions and polls was breached” in the July 19 hacking attack in which fake news of Rupert Murdoch’s death was posted to the Sun’s site.

Duncan said that “no financial or password information was compromised” in the attack, but the hacker did gain access to names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and dates of birth from users’ accounts. News International is working with authorities “to ensure that all steps are taken to retrieve the files involved.”

The hacker who released the information is apparently a Twitter user named “Batteye.” On Sunday, he posted a manifesto on Pastebin, nodding to the efforts of Anonymous and Lulzsec (which he claims not to be affiliated with) and voicing his disdain for News Corp., whose behavior he called “unacceptable.”

“There are indeed malicious hackers in the world,” he wrote. “Many people you hear about on the news—they are not malicious. Many have not caused harm . . . We will remain prey to the 'malicious' type of hacker that steals credit card information, or deletes voicemail messages and pushing the victims family to grieve more for their loved ones.”

Batteye concluded by saying that he will continue to post users’ information “until the list has been exhausted, or until the world and mankind realizes that we must change how we go on.”

There's more News International hacking news out of the U.K. today—but this time, it’s not the News Corp.-owned company that’s doing the hacking.

According to the Guardian, News International emailed thousands of people last night to warn them that a hacker had stolen the personal details of individuals who entered polls and competitions on the Sun’s website, and the hacker is now publicly posting that information on the site Pastebin.

Chris Duncan, the director of customer data for News International, told the website’s users that “some customer information from competitions and polls was breached” in the July 19 hacking attack in which fake news of Rupert Murdoch’s death was posted to the Sun’s site.

Duncan said that “no financial or password information was compromised” in the attack, but the hacker did gain access to names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and dates of birth from users’ accounts. News International is working with authorities “to ensure that all steps are taken to retrieve the files involved.”

The hacker who released the information is apparently a Twitter user named “Batteye.” On Sunday, he posted a manifesto on Pastebin, nodding to the efforts of Anonymous and Lulzsec (which he claims not to be affiliated with) and voicing his disdain for News Corp., whose behavior he called “unacceptable.”

“There are indeed malicious hackers in the world,” he wrote. “Many people you hear about on the news—they are not malicious. Many have not caused harm . . . We will remain prey to the 'malicious' type of hacker that steals credit card information, or deletes voicemail messages and pushing the victims family to grieve more for their loved ones.”

Batteye concluded by saying that he will continue to post users’ information “until the list has been exhausted, or until the world and mankind realizes that we must change how we go on.”